Over the past several years, President Akin has led Southeastern Seminary to become even more of a Great Commission Seminary than it was already. In so doing, he challenged the college to be a “Great Commission college” and the faculty to make every classroom a “Great Commission classroom.” For me personally, this challenge speaks several of my responsibilities at Southeastern, including my role as Dean of the College and as a professor who teaches courses … [Read More]
Some Thoughts on the Baptism of Children
Earlier this week, Trevin Wax wrote an interesting blog post titled “Should We Baptize Small Children?“ A couple of days later, John Starke of The Gospel Coalition responded to Trevin’s article with his own article, titled “Should We Baptize Small Children? Yes.” I would commend them both to you for your careful consideration.
For what it’s worth, my own thoughts on this subject have evolved in the past couple of years. I used to be a strong … [Read More]
The Bart Ehrman Project: Alvin Plantinga, Ben Witherington, D. A. Carson, Ed Gravely, Darrell Bock, and Michael Kruger
We at BtT are happy to link to The Bart Ehrman Project website. Ehrman is an agnostic and a vocal critic of orthodox and evangelical Christianity. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious studies at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). Ehrman’s recent books include Misquoting Jesus, God’s Problem, and Jesus, Interrupted.
The Bart Ehrman Project, an attempt to provide an evangelical countervoice to Ehrman’s claims, includes videos by Alving Plantinga (Evil … [Read More]
Theology & Culture (12): My Favorite Colleges, Persons, Blogs, Journals, and Books
By way of conclusion, allow me to point out a few institutions, persons, and publications which seek to approach to theology and culture in a robustly Christian manner. Please keep in mind that I must be concise to the extreme; even in an attempt at concision, this last installment is more than twice as long as I intended.
Institutions of Higher Education
I am happy to mention The College at Southeastern (C@SE), where I serve as a … [Read More]
Picture the SBC
Through what must have been a tragic mix-up of invitations, I was asked to speak at the inauguration of Frank Page as President of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. Here is a pic from the stage:
And here is my recent series on raising up young leaders in the SBC:
Ready or Not, Here They Come! A 5-part Series on Partnering with Our Sons and Daughters for a Great Commission Resurgence (Part … [Read More]
Theology & Culture (11): Why The Academy Matters to God
The university is perhaps the most influential institution in American society. It certainly is a funnel though which hundreds of thousands of young people pour out annually into every sector of American life. Further, many universities and academic disciplines have become breeding grounds for adamant (if not militant) resistance to Christian belief and practice. In fact, when 18 year old believers enter college, they will often find a scenario in which the smartest people they … [Read More]
Theology & Culture (10): Why The Public Square Matters to God
Evangelicals have always wanted to “change the world” and it seems American evangelicals have increasingly tried to do so through political action. We want to change the world, I think, because we want this world to reflect more accurately the world that God intended when he created, and to foreshadow more accurately the world that is to come. We know that God created the heavens and earth in a state of shalom or universal flourishing. … [Read More]
Theology & Culture (8): Why The Arts Matter to God
As a young believer and a cultural separatist in the 80s and 90s, I was pretty sure that “the arts” were very bad in some foreboding but non-specific manner. I wasn’t sure why they were so bad, but it seemed self-evident that I was supposed to be “agin’ it, not fer it.” During my childhood years, I had a rather limited television intake (The Andy Griffith Show was an exception, although the presence of Otis … [Read More]
Theology & Culture (7): Why Vocation Matters to God
The notion of vocation (calling) is significant to any discussion of theology and culture because all of a Christian’s vocations are at the intersection of theology and culture. In our recent Theology & Culture seminar, which was the impetus for this blog series, our discussion centered on Gene Veith’s God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life (Crossway, 2002). Veith’s book is a contemporary exposition of Martin Luther’s teaching on vocation, as conveyed … [Read More]
